Posted on 01/16/2025 6:44:54 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Immunotherapy has made an incredible impact on treating cancers, but for liver cancer, the therapy has been much less effective.
To understand why, scientists took a closer look at how the immune system and liver interact. They discovered that certain bile acids in the liver could affect the activity of cancer-fighting immune cells, called T cells.
The researchers saw that one specific bile acid—ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA)—had a positive effect on T cell activity in the liver.
In fact, boosting the levels of this bile acid through dietary supplementation was enough to control tumor growth in mice with liver cancer.
The liver produces more than 100 different bile acids. For T cells to fight cancer in the liver, they must function around these bile acids. Previous research has shown that excess bile acids can indicate poor health and exacerbate cancer.
The Salk team catalogued which bile acids were present in human liver cancer biopsies. They discovered that the liver tumor samples had elevated levels of conjugated bile acids, then asked whether this class of bile acids was directly contributing to cancer development.
Next, they separated out 20 different bile acids to see their individual impacts on T cell health. Primary bile acids had little effect. Secondary bile acids were much more influential, with two showing especially significant effects: LCA and UDCA.
LCA impaired T cell function by causing endoplasmic reticulum stress, wherein cells can no longer properly fold and modify proteins. UDCA improved T cell function, promoting the recruitment of immune cells to the liver. Dietary supplementation of UDCA was enough to control tumor growth in mice with liver cancer, offering an easily translatable approach to boosting immunotherapy efficacy in liver cancer patients.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
It looks like UDCA can help against liver cancer.
I was on Ursodiol for a time before my transplant, until it was determined that it wasn’t helping.
Had sky high liver enzymes. Killed them with horsepaste.
I also fast like a maniac 2× a year. 13 day.
The supplement, Blessed Thistle, (different from Milk Thistle) increases bile production. Which helps constipation. Seems to have helped mine.
I was talked into going through immunotherapy for my liver cancer. I was on it for 8 months last year and it nearly killed me. I stopped and it has taken 4 months to feel “normal “. Although my tumor has shrunk, but I’ll know better after the next MRI.
pttt
Thank you for posting all the excellent cutting edge research articles. You help people more than you can imagine.
I am in a network of many Dr’s with various specialities. I find myself frequently sharing the articles you share on FR with them. Has made for some very interesting conversations.
Can’t Thank You enough.
🙏🙏🙏
I found out the hard way about two weeks ago that cardamom increases bile secretion.
I love Turkish coffee with cardamom, so I purchased a pound of ground cardamom and started adding it to my coffee.
Within a week I had severe pain in my liver, gall bladder and pancreas. The inflammation was horrible. Stopped using it and the pain went away within 48 hours.
I researched it and sure enough, cardamom is known for causing this.
Related article
Targeting bile acid pathways offers hope for liver disease treatment
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-bile-acid-pathways-liver-disease.html
Thanks for your input.
I didn’t know increasing bile production could cause that.
Related article
Targeting bile acid pathways offers hope for liver disease treatment
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-bile-acid-pathways-liver-disease.html
I am glad these can get out to help more people.
Thank you for the encouragement, sir.
4 am
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